Journalist, lecturer and researcher

“Tenacity” remains core journalism skill

The annual NCTJ Journalism Skills Conference was held in Sheffield last week and featured discussions from a range of journalists representing broadcast, print and online.

The two-day event hosted panels on digital literacy, investigative journalism, regulation, photojournalism and diversity at The University of Sheffield and Sheffield College, which both run accredited journalism courses.

Highlights of the event included a deeply moving talk by The Times reporter Andrew Norfolk who spent four years off diary undercovering the Rotherham child grooming sex scandal which in his words was “all consuming” and left him “dysfunctional”.

And one controversial conference moment was the question from panellist, BBC Sport reporter Sonali Shah, about whether every journalist needed shorthand in the age of mobile phone audio recorders which led to sharp intakes of breath from the audience.

Although some mention was made of the core NCTJ skills of shorthand, media law and to a certain extent public affairs and structuring a news story, the emphasis of the conference was on new digital skills and adaptability.

Knowing how to compete against public bodies, businesses and charities in the online sphere

And is it advantageous for new recruits to have:

A basic understanding of html and coding

Knowledge of Photoshop, Googledrive, Excel

Strong editing skills

This ever-expanding digital skill set, underpinned by strong communication and investigation skills, poses many challenges to journalism educators who must add increasing components to their courses whilst maintaining some sense of what it means to be a journalist and to produce journalism.